Nanostructures, such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene-based materials, have been increasingly used in a multitude of disparate applications. For example, some CNT-based applications have involved electronic circuits, bio-functionalized devices, transistors, displays, touch screens, OLEDs, e-readers, solar cells and sensors for security, chemical, and biological applications. In many of these applications, thin, highly conductive materials are desirable.
For many of these applications, manufacturing nanotubes having consistent properties has been difficult under many conditions, and particularly under high-volume production conditions. For example, nanotubes often have different shapes, or chiralities, and different conductivity and electronic characteristics (e.g., nanotube fabrication can result in both semiconducting and metallic nanotubes).
In view of the above, nanostructures such as nanotubes and graphene have been manipulated or otherwise modified to suit specific applications. For instance, carbon nanotubes have been doped using dopants such as iodine, silver chloride and thionyl chloride, which can improve the conductivity of CNTs. However, such dopants can be challenging to implement for large-scale manufacturing and real-world applications. For example, certain dopants involve or otherwise require the use of gases that are undesirable (e.g., toxic) or difficult to use, and many dopants have not been capable of use in forming doped structures that are stable over time. Certain dopants can degrade carbon nanotubes and other organic materials over time, preventing encapsulation and making the doped structures unsuitable for many applications. In addition, many approaches to doping or otherwise modifying carbon nanotubes have involved undesirable and/or expensive manufacturing processes, such as those involving high heat or lengthy throughput.
These and other issues remain as a challenge to a variety of methods, devices and systems that use or benefit from nanostructures.